The angels get their share of the whiskey, we get ours. Then we may drink our heavenly libation together.

Monday, February 7, 2011

And suddenly, a wild barrel appears!

Received a phone call from my local liquor store over the weekend - my Single Malt barrel kit is in! I asked my wife to pick it up on her way home from work and it greeted me from my dining room table when I got home (the kit, not my wife).

As with the first kit, I soaked it with water overnight to swell up the wood. This one leaked mostly from the spigot.

Once it was holding water, I opened the bottles with some excitement and added them to the cask. I'm not sure why pouring whisky into a little barrel is so much fun, but it is. Maybe it's the anticipation of what will come out later!

I drew off a bit for a sample. The difference between the barley and rye whiskies is night and day. There is a definite hint of smoke. There's that raw alcohol taste, but also a lovely woody flavor and a bit of sweetness. A bit of tannin, like a strong red wine, too.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this will age. In the meantime, he sits next to his brother, waiting to deliver me delicious, delicious whisky.

2 comments:

Can you give us a quick delta between the rye and barley? Are the casks the same (so the delta between the two aged results will be just the difference between how the rye and the barley whiskies adopt and adapt in aging) or different (so the result has more variables)? When will they be ready? :)